Science in second grade explores forces and motion, earth materials, and plant diversity.
By the end of the school year, all students should be able to:
Know and show that the force of gravity pulls objects toward the center of the earth.
Observe and describe how the force of gravity can affect objects through air, liquids, and solids.
Investigate the properties of different types of soil. For example, observe their different colors, textures, materials, and abilities to retain water.
Observe and describe the physical properties of rocks (for example, their sizes, shapes, colors, and if any fossils are in the rocks).
Know that processes such as freezing, thawing, and wearing down by weather change the earth’s surface over time.
Identify things that make plants alike and things that make them different.
Recognize that plants closely resemble their parents and other plants of the same species.
Recognize that plants reproduce from seeds.
Recognize that plants need light, air, water, and nutrients to live and thrive.
Recognize that plants respond to changes in their environment, such as temperature or rain.
Learning at Home
Encourage your child to start a rock collection. Start with rocks from your neighborhood and other parts of New York City. Add rocks from places you visit on family vacations, and ask family and friends who travel to bring back rocks from those places.
Plan a family visit to the rock and mineral collections at the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side. Your child also can use the museum’s online field guide to identify and compare rocks. Go to www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/online_field_journal. Click on “Field Journals” and choose “Rocks.” Check out the material on rocks and fossils on the Museum’s Web site for kids, Ology, at www.amnh.org/ology.
Take a walk through Central Park or another New York City park near your neighborhood. Look for exposed surfaces, such as riverbeds or hillsides that show the effects of water, wind, or other elements. Talk about how these places came to look the way they do
Second Grade Science
-Push
-Pull
-Gravity
Earth
Soil
-Living/Nonliving components
-Color, texture, water retention
Rocks
Rocks
-physical properties
-Physical structures
-Growth and change
-Life cycle
-Basic needs
-Changes in environment
CA BOCES
Physical Science
Physical Science (Matter and Energy)
Measuring
Life Science
Plants and Animals
Weather
Science in second grade explores forces and motion, earth materials, and plant diversity.
By the end of the school year, all students should be able to:
Learning at Home
Encourage your child to start a rock collection. Start with rocks from your neighborhood and other parts of New York City. Add rocks from places you visit on family vacations, and ask family and friends who travel to bring back rocks from those places.
Plan a family visit to the rock and mineral collections at the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side. Your child also can use the museum’s online field guide to identify and compare rocks. Go to www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/online_field_journal. Click on “Field Journals” and choose “Rocks.” Check out the material on rocks and fossils on the Museum’s Web site for kids, Ology, at www.amnh.org/ology.
Take a walk through Central Park or another New York City park near your neighborhood. Look for exposed surfaces, such as riverbeds or hillsides that show the effects of water, wind, or other elements. Talk about how these places came to look the way they do